Please check out the authors below and share them if you like on social media and help them out.
Good karma goes a long way. If you belong to an Author group help spread the word about our free author interview series. We have started a new Facebook author group that focuses on author interviews and podcast interviews. Come Join us!

Barbara Lamb 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I co-own a consulting company. We have worked around the world on projects with the World Bank and other international organizations, focusing on community development. I speak Spanish, play the piano, and enjoy playing bridge. My favourite city is Paris, where I started to sketch out the plotline of PERIL over a month there.
I have also written a children’s book.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
PERIL: What was Written Has Come True. My book was inspired by what I was observing in Hungary, while I was working for 3 years in Eastern Europe. Orban, the Prime Minister, managed to take over a democratic country in a matter of a couple of years, using populism as a tactic, in many ways following the playbook of Hitler. I decided to write a fictional book that would hopefully raise awareness of the ease with which democracy can be lost. My father fought in WWII to protect our freedom. This book honour’s his service and others’.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m not sure. All I know is that, when I wrote PERIL, I wrote for 3 hours at least, EVERY DAY. When I reached the final third of the book, I wasn’t sure of how the book should end. I decided to take time off and just let the ending come to me, which it did. Then, I wrote for 24 hours straight, until I was able to type “THE END”!
Also, I focused on character development and found that my characters took me in directions I could never have imagined…the power of a blank page and what magically appears on it is amazing.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Golda Meir’s Autobiography;
Daniel Silva’s Books
Helen MacInness’s books.

What are you working on now?
A sequel to PERIL, as my readers want to continue getting to know my characters.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am working on that.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Believe in yourself. Edit, edit, edit.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Each time a character hits a challenge, he/she is transformed, just as we are in life. So, recognize this and allow your characters to evolve.

What are you reading now?
Hillary Clinton/Louise Penny book.

What’s next for you as a writer?
A sequel to PERIL…

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
War and Peace;
Winds of War and its sequel
Golda Meir’s autobiography

 

Davinder Kaur 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Davinder Kaur was born and raised in Bradford, England. She briefly lived in Denmark and traveled Australia for a year before moving to the United States in the early 1990s. She earned her bachelor’s degree at the age of forty while working full time and raising her three children who are her pride and joy.

She enjoys cooking and traveling, loves cruises, and her two favorite places thus far are Italy and London. You can find Davinder on Twitter or Instagram @luchanik or visit her website at https://luchanik.com.

Davinder is the survivor of a forced marriage. Forced to Marry Him: A Lifetime of Tradition and the Will to Break It is her first book.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Forced to Marry Him: A Lifetime of Tradition and the Will to Break It is my first book which was just published on October 31, 2021. I was inspired to write it as I knew it was what I needed to do. My story had to be told, as forced marriage is unfortunately a human rights abuse that has not just been inflicted on me, but on hundreds of thousands of girls all over the world, and unless we share our stories of our very real suffering, how will anyone know of the atrocities we had to endure in the name of tradition and culture? My aim is to spread awareness, so this does not happen to anyone else and that forced marriage and child marriage will hopefully be eradicated soon.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m sure that the reader might be able to pick out any unusual writing habits that I myself cannot detect that I am guilty of. I do know that I spelt “Mum” in the British way, even though I now live in America. There are some things that I still can’t bring myself to change as changing that would be like erasing part of my history. I still say “tomato” and “vitamin” the British way, but have learned to say “z” like Americans, instead of saying “zed”.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have been influenced by Jasvinder Sanghera, author of “Shame”. She is the founder of British charity “Karma Nirvana” founded for victims of forced marriage and honor-based abuse. She was also presented a picture at age fourteen of the boy she was supposed to marry. Her story is so similar to mine, but I admire her because she founded a charity to help countless other victims and she has my full admiration and respect for doing that. I wish Karma Nirvana had been there when I needed help at age eighteen.

What are you working on now?
I’m not working on any more books currently as I just finished “Forced to Marry Him: A Lifetime of Tradition and the Will to Break It”. I’m still at that phase of being amazed that I did this – finished my book and published it. This is a huge accomplishment for me, and I’m so happy to have told my story.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use Twitter a lot, and Instagram. I’m still learning about how I can promote my book, and realizing that my work is just beginning. Just because I finished my book, does not mean that I am done.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just believe in yourself that you can do it, and stay patient with the process. It can be a long path to getting your book out there, and it may seem that it will never happen, but it will.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Your story needs to be told”.

What are you reading now?
I wish I had time to read right now! There are many books that I have unfortunately read only fifty percent of, and I need to go back and finish those.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m not sure what is next for me. I don’t know if I have a sequel to write about, it really depends on how this book is received.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I would bring two books on survival, books about strong women, and perhaps a book of prayers. I need to start finding those books now. I have a pretty good idea about the books on strong women, but I need to do my research on books on survival. As far as a book of prayers, I also need to research that – I’m not sure if the bible has prayers in it, I guess I need to start reading the bible because I should know that!

Author Websites and Profiles
Davinder Kaur Website

Davinder Kaur’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Allen Taylor 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
A former newspaper editor and award-winning journalist, I’ve been a freelance writer since 2006. Since 2013, I’ve specialized in content for fintech businesses, and I’ve ghostwritten several books for executives. Additionally, I’ve written a few nonfiction books, a novella in the weird speculative fiction genre, and several poetry books. Additionally, I’ve edited three fiction anthologies.

I’ve been a Christian since 1992. Over the years, I’ve led small groups, taught Sunday school, led praise and worship, and preached a few sermons. I served one year in Iraq as an Army National Guard officer.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I Am Not the King is a response to some letters my mom had written to me. I felt the need to respond and wrote a letter back, but it was long and not the right tone. After letting it sit for a year, I rewrote it and realized I was writing my Christian testimony. That’s when I decided to publish it as a book.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I get up at 5 a.m. every day. I spend the first hour reading the Bible, meditating, and praying. That’s my time with God. At 6 a.m., I write for myself. Usually, I’m working on my next book. By 7 a.m., I’m beginning to work on client work.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
There have been many.

In fiction, Robert Heinlein, Neil Gaiman, Kurt Vonnegut, and others have been an influence. In nonfiction, Frank Viola (Insurgence and Pagan Christianity?), C.S. Lewis, and many others have influenced me.

What are you working on now?
I am working on a sequel to I Am Not the King, which will detail my experience as a lay Christian in a denominational church plant.

I’m also working on two books about cryptocurrencies. My forthcoming book Cryptosocial: How Cryptocurrencies Are Changing Social Media will be released in March 2022 by Business Expert Press. I’m working on another book about the history of cryptocurrency valuations that I hope to self-publish as a precursor.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
So far, the best thing I’ve done is assemble a strong launch team to help me launch I Am Not the King. The launch team consisted of 46 individuals who bought the book and left a review. I hope to assemble a launch team of more than 100 readers for my next book.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write every day. Schedule time for your writing. And read everything you can get your hands on.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Read more than you write.

What are you reading now?
I am reading several books by independent authors for whom I’ve volunteered to help launch books. I’m also reading From Eternity to Here by Frank Viola.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I will continue to write and publish books in the Christian and cryptocurrency genres. I’m currently on a push to book as many podcast appearances as I can.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Bible
A book of poems
A blank journal, because I will need something to write on. Make it two. Big ones.

Author Websites and Profiles
Allen Taylor Website
Allen Taylor Amazon Profile

Allen Taylor’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Dr Toula Gordillo 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve always been a writer, in one way or another, and I write something every day. Sometimes it’s a personal entry in a journal, sometimes it’s an article for a magazine or section in a book or thesis, and sometimes it’s just a thought-provoking post on my Talk to Teens Facebook page or group.
Writing is definitely my therapy. In the same way as the founder of Analytical psychology, Dr Carl Jung and the ancient Stoic philosophers used writing for self-reflection, I write to process what’s happening in my life. I also write to help others. For instance, years ago when my (then) pre-teenage children were struggling with particular issues, I wrote talking animal stories while on a family holiday to help. After the holiday, I wrote more stories covering the main teen issues I’d seen in my varied roles as a teacher, school counsellor and clinical psychologist. I self-published the stories in a book for personal use in schools and medical centres. It contained twelve myth-based stories featuring talking animals and other fantasy characters that go on a journey of self-discovery. I intend to re-publish these stories at a later date as The Universal Child. This is because the stories contain universal themes that are suitable for all ages, cultures and time periods.
Earlier this year I also had a book chapter published in a narrative text entitled Making Sense of Stories: An Inquirer’s Compendium by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. My book chapter, Story Image Therapy (SIT)® Story Analysis, shows how I use stories (and their accompanying symbolic images) as teaching tools, particularly with young people aged 12-25. I have hundreds of testimonials, so I know Story Image Therapy is effective.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
In my career as a Guidance Officer Intensive Behaviour Support (GOIBS) and acting Head of Student Services in schools, I witnessed a lot of tragedy. I therefore wanted to create something that could potentially help young people to become more resilient. The results of my PhD qualitative research had shown me that young people use stories and images, online and offline, as a way of coping with their mental health problems. This was a key theme. The students I interviewed also told me that they preferred mythic fantasy and science fiction in books, movies and computer games.
In my quest to improve youth resilience, I decided to use a myth-based fantasy story to introduce young people to the things that I thought could help them. In particular, I wanted to teach them about Jungian psychology and Stoic philosophy to cope with adversity, to appreciate the arts (particularly the literary prose by Shakespeare and Edgar Allan Poe as poetic examples of real life), as well as to become familiar with the stories of historical characters, like King Henry VIII, whose life-story was a tragedy in itself.
So, I enrolled in a creative arts doctoral research degree to study ways to deliver positive mental health messages to young adult readers. The result of my research was my novel, Shadows of Sylvaheim, recently published by Feather Knight Books. Shadows is what I call a Story Image Therapy Tool. That is, it’s a teaching tool for parents, teachers and counsellors to deliver information to young people. Other SIT tools include booklets, poster images, archetypal cards etc. that I have found to be helpful as part of my Jungian Action Research method. I wrote about my method in an article on Academia entitled Healing the Healer: Writing Academic Papers as Jungian Action Research. My paper has had over 3000 views since its publication a few months ago, so it seems people have found it helpful.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know if you would call it unusual, as I’m sure that many writers probably write at strange times and in unusual places, but I wake up just before dawn – usually about 4 am – and start writing. I recently attended a Fairy tale workshop at the C.G. Jung Society of Queensland where we talked about Aurora. (Yes, it is possible for a group of adults to sit around for a whole day analysing a single fairy tale and enjoy themselves)! Anyway, we discussed how Aurora symbolises a time just before dawn, the time of day when the veil is the thinnest between the spiritual and physical worlds. This made sense to me as I often feel ‘inspired’ when writing in the early morning. Later, when I re-read what I’ve written, I am often amazed it came out of my head! It’s as if I am being guided or channelled by something outside of myself.
I chose Aurora as the place where my characters, Jack and Emily, live in Shadows of Sylvaheim. I don’t know why exactly I chose the name; it just came to me during an early-morning writing session. I also wrote about the coming of the dawn, Aurora, in reference to my own life during my second book, The Magic of Jung. I am writing that book now. I understood Aurora to be the Greek goddess who announces the coming of the sun, but I didn’t know about the spiritual aspect of the veil between worlds until recently. Perhaps that is why I chose the name Aurora for both books. Or did I? Maybe it chose me! Who knows.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
First, would have to be Tolkien’s The Hobbit. My father and I listened to the story as an audiobook long before audiobooks were fashionable, and long before I could read. As a young child, I think I was about five, I couldn’t wait to hear the adventures of Bilbo Baggins. I remember that I didn’t fully understand it at the time, but I understood more when Dad and I listened to it again when I was about eight.
I also couldn’t wait for my father to read to me stories at night. Enid Blyton’s Brer Rabbit was always a favourite. Dad and I would talk for hours about the trickster rabbit’s adventures. I think we both admired his sharp wit and quick tongue—how he always managed to weasel his way out of some sticky situation without deliberately trying to cause harm. I also loved Blyton’s The Magic Faraway Tree fantasy series, and others. More recently, I especially enjoyed The Life of Pi by Yann Martel. I love the idea of fantasy being used to illuminate reality, especially with a teen protagonist. I think it reminds me of some of the trials and tribulations of my own teen years, as well as the good times. I also enjoyed Coelho’s The Alchemist for the same reason. A young central character who goes on an adventure of self-discovery…it reminds me of Dorothy in Baum’s The Wizard of Oz.

What are you working on now?
I am presently writing The Magic of Jung: The Rise of a New Youth Psychology Through Jungian Action Research. It’s basically an extension of my Academia article, Healing the Healer, which has been surprisingly popular. The Magic of Jung explains my ten-year journey from mainstream psychology and teaching to a more holistic, creative and fantastical practice. This aligns with what our ancestors have always done and my therapy’s acronym – SIT (as in to ‘sit’ and read a story or ‘sit’ and ponder a symbolic image). I am finding the act of writing the book is therapeutic in itself, although I do recognise myself becoming triggered at times during the writing. This is all part of the journey and healing process, and I am pleased it happens. That is, after all, why I write.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My new release, Shadows of Sylvaheim was published by Feather Knight Books, Oct 2021 and can be purchased from their website: https://featherknightbooks.com/

I’m an INFP in Jungian psychology. We’re a minority of the population apparently, and we like to go inward, to analyse our own inner nature and our place in the world. We can have a habit of daydreaming and fantasizing, so I recognise that I need good people of action around me. I have to force myself to promote my books through my website: www.toulagordillo.com, or writing blogs, or even to go to work counselling people all day. I would really rather prefer to be behind the scenes and just write! But to turn my dream of helping to improve youth resilience, I know I need to take steps to make sure that I turn my dream into a reality.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write every day. Don’t worry about grammar. Don’t worry about spelling. Just write. Oh, and “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” I think it was Lao Tzu that said it? For me, I just followed the steps. I didn’t know exactly where I was going to, but I let my intuition guide me. And I made sure that I wrote every day. If you do that, you’ll stay on the path. Eventually you will reach your destination. It might not be the path you expect, or even the destination you think, but stay on the path and stay open, and you will get there.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Desiderata. My mother hung it on the back of the toilet door, which was a fashionable thing to do in 80’s. She was a smart woman. She knew I would have to look at it everyday and could not escape! She also had the Serenity prayer stamped on a plate hung up on the kitchen wall. That damn plate followed us around everywhere we lived, even when we travelled around Australia when I was growing up. I can still picture it now. These days, I see The Serenity Prayer as Stoic philosophy in a nutshell. The prayer is also used in Alcoholics Anonymous, apparently, which was inspired by Carl Jung. So, I guess you could say that I was surrounded by Jung and the Stoic’s advice all my life.

What are you reading now?
I am actually reading my novel and putting sticky notes throughout. That might sound odd, but I have been using exerpts from my novel as bibliotherapy in SIT for years. I’m looking forward to finally having it all in one place that I can use as a single resource. For example, if I am counselling a young person with an eating disorder, like I am now, I can read and discuss the scene where Jack is sitting at the feasting table in Heorot’s Hall, feeling anxious about an impending battle with an ogre, and how this relates to my client ie., what is the ogre that they are battling, what do they feel anxious about, how do they feel when they read about the food on the table?
Or if someone feels that they are “descending into madness”, which sadly sometimes my clients do, especially if they have had drug-induced psychosis, then I can talk with them about the scene in my novel where Jack is in Faerieland and his love interest, Ari, tells him he needs to sit with the images in order to learn from them. We can talk about the symbolism of the raven in Allan Poe’s Raven poem and again, how this relates to them. It will be lovely to just turn the page and read the passage, instead of reading on scraps of paper!

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have nine case-studies that I am including in The Magic of Jung as an example of my Story Image Therapy method. I have finished seven, but I still have a couple more case-studies to write. My goal is to have The Magic of Jung completely finished by Christmas in preparation for its publication, also by Feather Knight Books, early next year. Once both books are published, I will start offering one day seminars for parents, teachers and counsellors in how they can use my books in teaching and counselling, or just to generate discussion with their teen or young adult. After that, I still need to re-write parts of The Universal Child to get it to publication standard in order to help pre-teens. My final and fourth book in the Sylvaheim series is my teaching and training manual. This will be an in-depth study of all of the Story Image Tools that I use in therapy and will lead me into more detailed teaching and training of other therapists in my method. I have a flexible plan, but as I said before, staying open is vital. So, I could end up doing something completely different! We’ll see what happens!

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The first would obviously be a survival guide. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Surviving Anything by Patrick Sauer looks pretty good to me. In addition to the important life-saving skills (and yes it does have a section on island survival, I checked), the idea of trying to complete a survivor personality test while trying to survive on a deserted island without a pen, is somehow, weirdly, appealing.
The second book would be The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne. I know some readers say it is Verne’s greatest masterpiece, while others find it tedious with its infinite and unrealistic detail on science and engineering, but I figure it might be an entertaining way that I could learn at least something that might help me. And if we consider its historical origins, and the fact that it is a fantasy book after all, it’s still a classic that I’ve never read. There’s sure to be plenty that I could sink my teeth into. After all, what else am I going to do after I’ve got the food, water, and shelter sorted? My time is my own, and what’s wrong with a little fantasy? Besides, isn’t the question about being stranded on a desert island and only allowed to take a certain number of books a little fantastical in itself?
The third book I would bring would be the bible. Like The Mysterious Island, the bible is a book that I have often wondered about but never read. Over the years, I have seen it in schools, hotels, they even sometimes randomly ‘appear’ in train carriages and buses, yet I’ve never actually taken the time to read it. Certainly not large chunks of it anyway. So if I was stranded on an island, and finally had the time to tease something apart, to analyse and digest all of its parables, symbolism and metaphorical meanings, then I reckon I would have enough to keep me occupied for years. And to be honest, if I was stranded on a desert island, unable to escape, then I would need all the help I could get!

Author Websites and Profiles
Dr Toula Gordillo Website
Dr Toula Gordillo Amazon Profile

Dr Toula Gordillo’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

CJ Corki 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
People ask us all the time how we came up with CJ Corki as our pen name. CJ represent our dad, Charles Joseph and Corki is Polish for daughter. So CJ Corki is Charles’ daughters. We are three of five sisters that dealt with the challenges of balancing work, life, and reluctant readers by day, and developing into amateur children’s book sleuths by night… all while wearing our bunny slippers, of course.

At an early age, we learned to “play nice in the sandbox,” and hope to inspire others to remember the value of family, the importance of individual abilities, and to work together in harmony.

THE MARSHMALLOW MYSTERY is our debut children’s book. This book is the first in our Can You Find, Did You Know Series that centers around various adventures at Grandfather’s house. Since most good readers aren’t born good learners, this series delivers skill-building fun for reluctant or soon-to-be new readers. The antics in each book in the series tell stories using the dyslexia font and help children develop a much richer vocabulary and a love for reading while learning the fundamentals of colors, shapes, and objects to find on every page, making it fun. Each book provides hours of entertainment with fun facts, family values lessons, and challenges both kids and parents alike will enjoy as they find items “hidden in plain sight.”

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The MARSHMALLOW MYSTERY is our debut children’s book.

Our dad was the family storyteller and the “real” marshmallow bush is the basis of the book. So, you’re probably asking: What’s the Marshmallow Bush? Well, this bush has been in Grandfathers yard as long as anyone can remember. He says it was there when he was a kid, and his parents before him. Ages! And every morning it grows fresh marshmallows.

Our second book in the Can You Find, Did You Know Series, THE DINOSAUR DISCOVERY: An egg-cellent Easter Adventure is scheduled to be available March 2022.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
With 3 sisters in different cities collaborating on a 900 word book, the only way we could get anything on paper is for each of us separately to first answer these 3 questions:
1- Who is the protagonist/antagonist?
2- What is the conflict?
3- What do we want the lesson to be?
Starting with 3 different visions helped us bring the best of the ideas forward into the final version.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
There are so many great children author’s narrowing it down is difficult. That being said, both my daughter and I loved reading and reading Robert Munsch, Love You Forever, and Judy Blume books to name just two. Recently I have been enjoying Andy Andrews who provides simple yet powerful stories that captures the imagination.

What are you working on now?
Besides the second book in the Can You Find, Did You Know Series, The Dinosaur Discovery: An egg-cellent Adventure, we just completed a Christmas activities book and hopefully by early March an Easter Activities book, both incorporating the Can You Find, Did You Know Series format.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
As a new author we are still learning the marketing ropes and have not successfully found our “sweet” spot yet.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t let the naysayers stop you from following your passion. As an indie author, you have a story to tell and a voice to share, keep true to your course and share it whenever and where ever you can.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Pay attention to the little details, keep the end in mind focus and have fun!

What are you reading now?
Andy Andrews: Just Jones and over and over again, The Traveler’s Gift.
On the historic mystery front: Rose Johnson’s Scent of Death: A Voodoo Cadaver Dog Mystery

What’s next for you as a writer?
Complete the 5 book series. 1 complete, 1 in process and 3 to go.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Great questions…probably:
1- Robinson Crusoe
2- My books
3- Surviving a Desert Island for Dummies (do they have something like this?)
4- War and Peace (never had time to get through it before)

Author Websites and Profiles
CJ Corki Website
CJ Corki Amazon Profile

CJ Corki’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Tyler Sundt 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Well, officially, I have written two. Unofficially, I have about a hundred of unfinished “ideas” that were gathering dust until the love of my life inspired me to get these stories published.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The latest, which is the first, is called The Evil That Came From The Sky. The inspiration pretty well came from zombie films that I realized would be far more scary if there were no guns. So, I set an apocalyptic zombie outbreak in a medieval setting, with a few twists!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I tend to write too much and need to “trim a lot of fat”. I have the opposite of writer’s block. I find myself doing most of my writing when I should be doing more important things, like adulting and all that other stuff. When I’m really not supposed to be writing, like, say, while I’m at work, is when I come up with my greatest ideas and write them all down. It’s bad…

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Where do I start? Geez, I’d have to say I am greatly influenced by Stephen King. I was really obsessed with The Stand. I loved how many characters he created and how they were all so different, yet equally important to me and I feel that it would be such a tremendous feat to carry such a massive idea on the shoulders of so many characters. That has really inspired me. A few others that come to mind would be S.D Perry, when I was a kid I read all of the Resident Evil books and was just obsessed by them, being that I was such a videogame addict. Another is definitely Dan Abnett and Graham McNeill, who work for the Black Library writing Warhammer stories, which I love. I’m missing quite a few, I realize, but those are the bigger influencers for me.

What are you working on now?
Right now I’m working on a seriously depraved horror/guilty pleasure novel that is certainly not for the faint of heart. It’s my Magnum Opus, drawing dark and disturbing energies from the darkest recess of my depraved imagination. You’ll have to stay tuned for that one.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am still currently discovering that!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write. Especially if it brings you serenity or any form of joy. For me, it’s an escape and I feel like now, more than ever, it’s important to leave this realm and dive into your own and create a place whether that be dark, bright, happy, or sad and get lost in it and put it on paper.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I might have to come back to this one.

What are you reading now?
The Institute by Stephen King.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I will be writing a massive trilogy that ties into The Evil That Came From The Sky. It’s been in the making for many, many years and I finally have the balls to get it out there and share it with the world!

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Stand, Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton (fricken hilarious btw), Horus Rising by Dan Abnett, Skaven by William King (such a fun novel with a bundle of adventures all rolled into one big one.)

 

Tyler Sundt’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Scott Douglas 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Too many to count. I write a lot of technical non-fiction under another name. But the stuff I really enjoy is creative non-fiction, and I’ve wrote about a half dozen–depending on what qualifies as a book sense some are shorter.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Organic Theology and Organic Christian. It’s actually one book that was previously published, but when I got the rights back, I decided to put it out as two separate books. The book was originally called #OrganicJesus. It was written several years ago while my wife was pregnant. I wanted to write a book that explained to my future son why I believed in a religion that sometimes seemed a little…wacky.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write everything backwards…on a phone…in the shower. Just kidding. No unusual habits. I’ve been doing it so long, it’s all second nature at this point.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Flannery O’Connor had a huge impact on me when I first started writing. I’m also a fan of David Foster Wallace and John Updike.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
BookBub seems to be the crown jewel, but I rely heavily on smaller websites to get to BookBub status. When a book first comes out, I’ll spend the first three or four months doing campaigns on places like Awesome Gang. Once it gets enough organic reviews, I’ll submit it to BookBub and usually get a deal.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Build a platform and self-publish. I didn’t start selling books until I left traditional publishing. My first traditionally published book, which was through Da Capo (a pretty big publisher) sold less than 5000 copies; my first self-published book? Over 10,000 copies in the first year.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Steinbeck on critics: unless the bastards have the courage to give you unqualified praise, I’d say ignore them.

What are you reading now?
Breath: The Science of a Lost Art

What’s next for you as a writer?
Hopefully become an Oprah book club selection.

 

Author Websites and Profiles
Scott Douglas Website
Scott Douglas Amazon Profile

Scott Douglas’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Anne Aylward 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have been an editor, proofreader, freelance writer, ghost writer and author for quite a while now, so publishing is an industry I am very familiar with. I have written a variety of fiction and non-fiction work, much of which has been published under a pen name, or was ghost written for someone else. Writing is a career I enjoy, I find the solitude and the challenges strangely tranquil and absorbing.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Little Gems Flash Fiction: Gripping Short Stories to Read in Your Lunchbreak is a collection of amusing and sometimes ironic little stories that I collated from real life experiences of people I know or anecdotal tales I have heard here and there. Some of the stories pack a lot of emotional impact and most have an amusing twist in the tale. They have been pulled together to entertain in those down time moments when an uplifting little tale is most welcome.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I really don’t, I’m a bit conventional really. I just pound away at my laptop and create written art.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I am writing a cozy mystery series at the moment and I have to say I have been influenced juts a bit by the one and only Janet Evanovitch.

What are you working on now?
My current challenge is a five book cozy murder mystery series which I am enjoying. It involves an earnest young woman who runs a karate club and is helping out her Mom who is very ill, by running her catering firm until her Mom gets better. The heroine has a passion for sleuthing and she is trying to write some crime fiction in between running her karate club business and running her Mom’s business. Of course there is a dark and elusive karate expert dude who runs a VIP security agency and an events booking business that often needs caterers.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am still organizing a website with a blog. At the moment, Amazon is all I’ve got but I’m working on it.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just this, you’ll feel discouraged and overwhelmed at times, we all do. So, just plug on and believe in yourself, achieve one step at a time toward your goal.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
About the same, and it really helped.

What are you reading now?
“Night School” a Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’ve got to get one step at a time done; set up my website and blog and finish my cozy mystery series.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Probably some crime thrillers. Some whodunits.

Author Websites and Profiles
Anne Aylward Amazon Profile

Tom Farnell 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Leonardo’s Lost Notes is my latest book, it’s a puzzle book full of sketches and quotes from Leonardo da Vinci. The puzzles are unique riddles, codes and logic problems that, when solved, reveal keys which can be used to discover Leonardo’s final secret at the end of the book.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I find I feel much more creative and productive at night so while creating my latest book I often worked on it from 11 pm – 3 am.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have been inspired by several puzzle books which I have played recently, my favourites are Journal 29 and Trip 1907.

What are you working on now?
I am currently working on my new puzzle book, focusing on the true story of Blackbeard. The book will be on Kickstarter soon and Amazon after that.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Launching the book on Kickstarter was a great way to expose it to a huge community who where just as excited about it as me.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t loose momentum near the finish line, the final stages of writing are the hardest, but if you never finish and show the world, what was the point.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
While researching thr book I can across this quote from Leonardo that I like.
“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.” – Leonardo da Vinci.

 

 

Becca Lee Gardner 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am an avid geek and mother of 3 little ones. My kids come to me with Star Wars questions and I go to them when I’m stuck on a plot point in my current book. I’m a recovering perfectionist and a quick-draw with dad jokes and puns. I crochet, paint, run, and ride horses. I’ve always been a dreamer and now I’m showing my kids just how much fun dreaming can be.

I have written 2 novellas and three short stories (with many more coming soon). I have a BA in English Literature from the University of Utah and have won 6 Honorable Mentions from the Writers of the Future Contest.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book, MINDSTORM, began in May 2020. The schools had shut down. My husband was working from home. And my writing dreams seemed farther away than ever as I took on so many more roles. But this story (and those dreams) wouldn’t let me rest. So I woke up before anyone else in the house and wrote. 6 days a week. Every week.

On the surface, MINDSTORM is inspired by Japanese mythology (I am a hopeless mythology nerd). But beyond that, MINDSTORM is really inspired by the struggles 2020 brought home. How do we become better than we were? Why do we hurt those we love the most and what will we do to mend it?

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I often write before anyone else in the house is awake. With three young kiddos, that means some early mornings. I don’t even set an alarm. My brain just wakes me up! I grab my laptop, sneak down the stairs, wrap up in my favorite blanket, and clickety-clack away on a story.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Timothy Zahn, Martha Wells, Delilah Dawson, Mur Lafferty, Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Claudia Gray (to name a few). Martha Wells’ Murderbot Series opened my eyes to how much I adore a novella. And also how hard it is to be a human. Ha!

What are you working on now?
MINDSTORM is the first in a series, so I’m working on books 2 and 3 now. I also have a fun space opera in drafts and some SF/F middle grade books coming, too!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My Facebook page has been my go-to place, but I’m always learning and trying new things.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
To quote Howard Taylor, “Failure is your teacher. Success is just a diploma.”

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write the book you’d dig through your car to find change to buy.

What are you reading now?
NOPHEK GLOSS by Essa Hansen.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Writing! Bashing that self-doubt with enthusiasm and consistency.

And so many more sci-fi and fantasy stories! Buckle up, we’re just getting started.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
1) Collected edition of the Murderbot Series by Martha Wells (yes, that’s cheating, but you’re the one stranding me on an island).
2) Star Wars: Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn
3) Cabinet of Curiosities by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Author Websites and Profiles
Becca Lee Gardner Website
Becca Lee Gardner Amazon Profile

Becca Lee Gardner’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Kaylon Tran 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a scientist by training and am best known for my research, which focuses on the generational effects of maternal or paternal toxicant exposures (think Agent Orange or burn pits).

Throughout my career, I have had a strong desire to connect the lay public with the research community. To this end, I have frequently spoken at high schools to share information regarding careers in science as well as local advocacy groups in support of women with endometriosis.

In addition to my scientific endeavors, I have always loved to write. She has published numerous scientific papers and book chapters as well as several non-fiction essays. Time Intertwined was my first novel. I had so much fun writing it, I decided to make it a trilogy.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Can I answer a different question? My first book was inspired by an event in my life. My ex-husband is Vietnamese and I am just a white girl from Mississippi. I thought it would be fun to have our DNA analyzed and see what the kids were. That decision led to finding a lost relative that was looking for his birth mother. That true story was so amazing, it inspired me to write a fictionalized account. Because of my research, I couldn’t tell a Vietnam War story without talking about Agent Orange. I didn’t want to overwhelm the primary story, but then after it was published, I felt I had not done enough with that part of the war–and the trilogy was born.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
No idea. I do tend to wake up about 3 AM with a story idea (oh, that’s how that can happen; or–so and so needs to do that) and I just have to get up and start writing.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love Ken Follett. He is amazing! My books are not nearly as complex, but maybe someday after I hang up my lab coat.

What are you working on now?
Books 2 and 3 of the trilogy. The second book is with my amazing proofreader–it is called Lives Intertwined and follows the hunt for a serial killer (but isn’t gruesome). DNA analysis is being used to try and find him. I’ve just started on the third book, called Darkness and Light Intertwined. It will follow a war orphan throughout her life. All three books weave the Vietnam War into the story–with multiple storylines and timelines being “intertwined.”

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Hmm…I am still figuring that one out. I like writing more than marketing (which I think maybe true for most of us). I did a radio interview that made a pretty big impact for me and am trying to do more free book promotions. But, I won’t be quitting my day job anytime soon. Good thing I love experimenting, too.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Find 3-4 friends/family members that will give you honest feedback. My sister and brother-in-law read everything I write and tell me what’s good and what needs work. They also give great feedback from a readers perspective (e.g., this chapter is too sciencey). For Lives Intertwined–it is a bit of a whodunit. If you like the twist at the end–that was David’s idea. I had to do quite a bit of rewriting, but it was totally worth it. You can’t be so attached to your story that you don’t listen to great feedback.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
As far as writing? Or just in general? Maybe it is the same. Do at least one thing everyday that is important to you. I think women especially tend to focus so much on others we neglect ourselves (or our own work) sometimes. That’s why I love getting up early. Outside of an emergency, 7 am is when I start doing for others…Before that is just for me.

What are you reading now?
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Once the trilogy is finished–not sure. But definitely something.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Ken Follett’s Century Trilogy. I read them when they came out and would love to read them again.

Author Websites and Profiles
Kaylon Tran Website
Kaylon Tran Amazon Profile

Kaylon Tran’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Poetic Beauty 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have written three books
My first one Poetic Crossroads is my life story recreated into poetry and my second is called Poetic Soul it’s just a bunch of love poems and my third is a trilogy the storyteller

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called the storyteller
My grandkids and sons inspired me
So I used their spirit names in the book

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yes I have to with a certain type of pen and I always write my books in handwriting before I type them and I listen to music for me to write

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The shack
Twilight
And I love reading Indigenous books

What are you working on now?
My trilogy The Storyteller

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I do a lot of research before picking a promoting site

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes never give up and keep writing
Reach for your dreams

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Never let negativity influence you

What are you reading now?
Native American myths and traditional stories of the pomo people

What’s next for you as a writer?
Keep writing poetry and native cultural fictional stories

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Survival book and how to live off the land and poetry book

Author Websites and Profiles
Poetic Beauty Amazon Profile